


It’s Okay To Have Nightmares

by sekliGacisseJ



Category: Star Wars: Rebels, starwars
Genre: 2 part short, A little, Angst, Blossoming Friendship, Comfort, Deep Meaningful Conversations, DmC - Freeform, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Hera - Freeform, Hera Syndulla Needs A Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Is this angst, Kanan Jarrus Needs a Hug, Late Night Chats, Maybe - Freeform, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Post-Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Star Wars: Rebels, Set a few months after gorse, cheek caressing, depending on how much I write, hand holding, heras got a heck of a right hook, it could be 3 parts, kanan - Freeform, kanan Jarrus is a babe, lot a love, night time, past trauma, post gorst, protective Kanan, rylothians, screams, the ghost - Freeform, topless kanan, twi’ leks, twi’leks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 04:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26467099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sekliGacisseJ/pseuds/sekliGacisseJ
Summary: “Screams. that’s what woke him up.Terrified, blood curdling screams.Heras screams.“One night aboard The Ghost, Kanan is awoken to a sound he’d never heard before. A sound that pierced into his skull, sent shivers down his spine and twisted his insides into a tight knot.
Relationships: Kanan Jarrus & Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, kanera - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	It’s Okay To Have Nightmares

Screams. That’s what woke him up.

He thought they were in his dream, but as he regained consciousness he slowly registered the way they didn’t stop. Instead the noise was getting louder, more defined, harshly dragging him into reality with every passing second.

No these screams definitely weren’t any part of a dream. They were coming from somewhere in the ship, outside his cabin. 

Terrified, blood curdling screams.

Heras screams.

He’d never heard her make this sound before but he had no doubt who they belonged to. It pierced into his skull. Sent shivers down his spine. Dread punched him in the gut as they twisted his insides into a tight knot, his breath hitching.

In an instant he was scrambling across his bunk, flinging the sheets away and jumped out of bed. His feet stumbling across the room, eyes blown wide with panic as he desperately punched the control panel to open his cabin door.

Whipping round trying to make sense of what direction her screams were coming from, his head twisted back and forth, eyes darted down the hallway in the direction of the galley and back to the cockpit.

He suddenly regretted their decision to stay put overnight on this backwater planet instead of jumping to hyperspace like they’d originally intended, but they’d received a last minute second job that wouldn’t be completed for at least another rotation.

All sorts of horrifying images sprung to the front of his mind at the knowledge of what kind of people this planet was filled with. 

His heart dropped when he registered the direction the screams were coming from. Inside her cabin. He hit her cabin panel prepared to tear apart whatever or whoever was in there, ready to rip their throat out.

But when the light from the hallway spilt into her cabin it was empty of any intruder.

Instead he found Hera, curled into the corner of her bunk, legs drawn up to her chest, eyes wide and unfocused, still screaming at this unseen attacker. 

He assessed the situation within moments. She was having a nightmare. This wasn’t something he was a stranger to. But after months on the ghost together not once had he heard her have an issue throughout a sleep cycle, unlike his commonly restless nights.

“Hera” he tried to crawl onto the edge of her bed to shake her out of it.

“No no” she cried, panic evident in her voice.

“Hera it’s me, it’s okay” his voice steady and raised slightly, hoping to get through the haze of her nightmare.

Her screams continued, arms raised as if trying to protect herself from an attack.

He went to reach for her wrist but as his fingers closed around it her defences went up. Her eyes slammed shut and limbs lashed out at the sudden intrusion of her personal space, arms thrown out wildly towards his face and he fought kicks to his abdomen, her strong legs placing a few powerful blows as he continued to fight towards her.

“Please” her cries continued “leave me alone” it came out as a sob.

Kanans heart ached, he was desperate to get to her, to comfort her, to wake her from her nightmare, but she was proving that was easier said than done.

She flung her arms out catching him square in the jaw with a right hook, rather impressive for someone sleeping walking he admitted.

In between her piercing screams and defensive reactions she was acting out he made out a few more words “don’t touch me - get off me” she continued to mumble as tears streaked down her face.

He managed to pin her arms to her side to halt any more injury from occurring to his face, while backing her up so tightly into the corner her legs were stuck between her chest and his body.

He learnt his forehead on hers, locking her in place between him and the wall. “Hera wake up, it’s me, it’s Kanan” he said firmly. “Hera!”.

Her eyes shot open as her mind came racing back into the waking world.

Her breaths came out in short sharp gasps, muscles shaking with adrenaline as she became aware of the firm hold on her arms and the way her legs were pressed between her and something soft and firm.

Warm. A body. Kanans body. Kanan.

Blinking rapidly her eyes came back into focus taking in his intense gaze, mere inches away from her own. Shrinking back even further into the corner of her bunk at the sudden proximity. Gasping for breath, her eyes darted around the room, recollecting her surroundings, finally landing back on his bright turquoise eyes.

“Are you okay?” Not removing his hands from her arms, only slightly pulling his forehead away from hers an inch to scan her face for any indication on her mental state after waking suddenly.

She could feel his breath fan out on her face as he heaved through his nose, eyebrows scrunched and lips pulled into a line. She eyed the creases at the corners of his eyes, the way his pupils were blown wide with concern as they continued to burrow into her.

Her gaze shifted down to his bare chest and continued further to the sleep shorts he was wearing. She registered the way his thighs on either side of her body locked her in his grip, and the warmth radiating off of him.

Closing her eyes she began to centre herself in his grasp, his familiar presence, his smell. She felt safe with him, which was unusual. If any other male had woken her up mid-nightmare, pinning her against a corner in her cabin, face inches from hers, arms held against her sides and legs pushed into her chest she’d of punched them straight in the eye followed by a swift kick to the groin just to be safe. But not kanan.

“Hera?” He pressed, still not answering his question.

“Uh - I’m okay” she breath out deeply, followed by further controlled breaths to slow down her rapid breathing. This was less of a response to his question and more of a way to remind herself she was in fact okay, it wasn’t real, and Kanan was now here.

Kanan didn’t fully believe her, but even so slowly released his tight grip on her arms, sinking back into his heels and releasing her legs as he knelt in front of her.

Nightmares were a regular occurrence for him, but not once had he experienced Hera having any issue with them.

He studied her carefully, unsure what trigger sat behind this night terror, his brain running through all sorts of possibilities.

In the months they’d known each other so far, neither had told the other much about their lives prior. They’d shared a few facts, some funny anecdotes, a few likes and dislikes they’d come to learn living together as crew. They’d grown comfortable as friends, she even put up with his relentless flirting, easily brushing off any attempts or advancements he threw in her direction, much to his surprise.

He knew she had a mum and brother who’ve both passed, but no further details have since been spoken about and that she’d left her home planet of Ryloth a few years ago. She’d vaguely explained the situation behind it, something about herself and her father not seeing eye to eye. But between that and them meeting on Gorse her story was still pretty blank to him.

Of course he hadn’t told her his history, how at 14 everything he knew and loved had been ripped away from him, callously murdered when the republic fell, how his life as a Jedi had turned so drastically. Of course she vaguely knew he was capable with the force after he saved her life using it on Gorse, probably having some suspicions but not any real knowledge of his abilities - abilities he admits he’s avoided as much as possible for the past few years. Even if she did have her suspicions she hadn’t brought it up, which he was thankful for.

All he’d mentioned about his recent years before joining her on the Ghost was he’d had experience with pirates, smugglers and anything else that could earn him easy money under the Empires nose.

But topics that came under nightmares, trauma and deep emotional back stories wasn’t something they’d casually bring up in their usual cockpit talks to pass the time through hyperspace or in between missions in their down time.

He reached out to wipe her tear ridden cheeks with his thumbs but pulled back when she flinched.

“Sorry” he mumbled, afraid of causing her any more distress.

She shook her head dismissing his apology and her instinctive reaction, “it’s fine” she assured him.

Her eyes met his, letting him know his action was welcome.

Carefully he moved his still hovering hand back towards her cheek, slower this time, cupping her emerald face with his palm as he wiped away the moisture with his thumbs. Pulling his hands back and patting them dry on his sleep shorts.

“Sorry” Her voice came quieter and softer than he’d ever heard it before “- I woke you”.

“Don’t worry about it” he insisted quickly with a shake of his head “just glad you're okay”.

She nods, silently accepting his reasoning.

Her usual authoritative, self assured manner she wore like armour was currently stripped bare. Seeing her like this, accepting his company, letting him caress her cheek to wipe the tears made his chest swell and he felt a flush sweep over his skin.

“If you ever want to talk - I know they can be a real pain”. They. Nightmares he meant, but she seemed to understand without any further explanation.

“Yeah. I hear you sometimes - most nights actually” she corrected “- talking in your sleep”. Hera must hear him more than he’d realised.

He always tried to be as quiet as possible after being jostled awake and would normally remove himself to the galley to clear his mind of the never ending visions of the day the Jedi fell, how his master had sacrificed herself for him.

He’d frequently dream about the years he’d spent alone drifting from one dusty corner to another to sleep in, the dodgy crews he’d had to tag along with to put food in his mouth and the many life threatening situations he’d somehow managed to squeeze out of.

Although he did find waking up in an actual bed he called his own, in the safety of The Ghost, knowing Hera was only across the hall was always a relief. He found since joining her ship, calming down after a nightmare had become a lot easier than it had ever been before.

“Was it bad?” She winced. Her question pulled him out of his pondering. It took him a second to register what she was referring to.

Oh. The screaming.

Her blood curdling screaming that had driven the fear of the gods into his very soul.

He grimaced at the memory of her terrified screams echoing through the ship and the words he’d heard come from her mouth begging some unknown evil to get away from her.

His unsettled reaction spoke for itself, the flash of fear across his face followed by his lips tightening into a cringe was enough to answer her question.

She sighed, reprimanding herself for causing such a scene, although her embarrassment was cut short when her eyes fell on the red mark now appearing on his jaw.

With a sharp intake of breath she brought her hand up and gently brushed her fingertips against his tanned skin.

“Did I do that?” Her eyes were full of concern.

Catching her hand in his and giving her fingers a little squeeze, “don’t worry about it” he assured her, before huffing out a small good humoured breath through his nose.

“You’ve got a good swing there” he teased gently, earning a brief, small shy smile from the corners of her mouth.

Kanan shuffled his legs from under him, pulling back the covers slightly to scoot to Heras side, leaning his back against the wall at the head of the bed.

She too shifted her position, untangling her legs from the covers as she slipped back under them, aligning her right side next to his left, back also against the wall.

He wasn’t in any rush to leave and she was grateful for that, allowing herself to appreciate their close proximity for once with their sides flush and legs outstretched.

After all his suggestive comments that his cabin was always open, all his flirtatious remarks that she was welcome anytime of the day or night, all the times she’d immediately snubbed out any of his hopeful jives and playful advances. He never thought he’d in fact end up in hers, or be sitting on her bunk, with her, with her side pressed against his and no indication she was about to playfully but firmly shove him out like he would have expected.

But sitting here with her now, in the dark, was different. Any jokes wether they secretly held any real intent or not suddenly seemed insignificant compared to the intimacy between them in this moment. The most intimacy they’d shared since he’d joined her ship, and an intimacy he suddenly realised he wouldn’t exchange for any of the juvenile advances he joked around with.

Her breaths had calmed to a much slower controlled pace, her eyes focused on the wall opposite. Kanan listened to the rustling of the sheets between her fingers, watching as she traced small circles into the creases of the material.

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to wait to post this as a single chapter but just got too excited once I had the first half (1/3? not sure yet) completed.  
> Stay tuned for some late night chats, secret sharing and DMC’s (deep meaningful conversations) coming up.  
> All the love, kids, stay safe!


End file.
